Hollow Body
by ReLATeS
Summary: Rin finds a body in a river. HaruxRin, a ghostly romance. A little disturbing in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

There was a river in Rin's backyard, which was so entangled in thorns and weeds that she had never fully figured out where it came from or where it went. It was usually murky and the water was void of all living things, even mosquitoes. Rin was the only life form that showed her face at the water's edge, and, ironically, she only went there to think of drowning herself. Her parents were never home and sometimes she came awfully close, considering there was nothing stopping her and she had no reason to feel guilty about it.

She bent her head to the water and her hair touched the surface. She had attempted to dye her hair before, but wound up not caring enough to maintain it, and let it return to its natural black.

She let out a breath that she had been holding for about a minute; she had been "practicing", to see if she would really have the nerve to commit suicide-- but Rin was not suicidal. She only liked the idea of death; it was only natural for her to be curious. She only wanted to see what was on the other side.

She brought her face closer to the surface, staring at her reflection as her hair swam out in spirals around her. Somehow she thought this river was connected to her strange obsession, as if what lay on the bottom was part of another world. This was completely stupid, of course, she knew there were only leaves and sediment on the bottom; but sometimes she thought she saw something else when she looked into the barren cavity that swallowed up half of her yard.

On a whim, Rin dropped her head beneath the surface and opened her eyes; it was black on the bottom except for a rather large light patch in the shape of a log. She returned to the surface and gasped for air, regaining balance on the half-dead tree which she had used as a brace while leaning into the water. She rubbed her fist across her eyes and growled in exasperation when a large streak of black mascara marked her hand.

She held her breath and put her head in again. The log vaguely resembled a human; if she reached down, she could probably touch it...

She rolled her sleeve up to her shoulder and sank her arm into the water, which almost lacked temperature. The light form was easily within her grasp; without thinking of anything dangerous, she touched it and found it surprisingly soft against her fingers. It was at this point that she realized the shape was a human; without panicking, she moved her hand down to grasp its arm and began to pull it out of the water.

The person's legs seemed to be lodged in the mud at the bottom, but after a tremendous heave, the person was free, the branch broke, and Rin fell completely into the water. Catching the bottom with her bare foot, she headed for the edge of the narrow river with the human in tow. The mud at the bottom was smooth and very soft, not giving her much traction.

By the time she reached the shore and saw that she was holding a human wrist in her hand, she was losing some of her composure; the possibility of finding a dead body in her river was quite jarring, but then, what else could it be? Did she expect to find a live person lodged in the mud under four feet of water?

She grimaced and stared at the hand she held in hers. It was decidedly a boy's hand.

She decided to pull up the person anyway; he came very slowly, as if he was still lodged in the mud, but eventually an upper arm began to appear out of the river.

Rin stopped, braced herself with her feet on a tree root, and pulled again, biting her lip. A shoulder followed the arm, and finally, a face appeared. Rin estimated him to be about a year younger than she. Ruefully, she thought, _Why is it that _live_ boys are never this hot?!_

She pulled again, finally dislodging him and dragging him up onto the bank. Her hair had begun to dry, and she took a moment to catch her breath and gaze, somewhat admiringly, and what she had found. There was no doubt now that he was dead; she could tell merely by smelling the air. However, there seemed to be no apparent cause of death, save for an enormous scar under his jaw that had clearly healed far prior to his placement in the riverbed.

She felt somewhat guilty about not reacting to death in the way most would. She leaned back against the withered tree trunk and closed her eyes; he was still there when she opened them. She grabbed his jeans and pulled his legs onto the bank.

The joy that came with coming so close to her dream was dampened by the prospect of what Rin was supposed to do with this body. The first thought that entered her head was to take a picture and then push it back in the water, but she supposed that if he had been murdered, the police would find him to be useful.

She blinked and looked at him with what was a mix of curiosity and spite. His hair was a curious black and white mix; she leaned her head back and caught a glimpse of the gray-blue sky between the gnarled branches of her tree.

"I went along for the ride."

Rin gave a start, and yelled. She looked down at him; there was no question about it: he had said those words. Rin walked towards him on her knees and bent over him, her hair falling around her face and almost touching his. "Are you all right? Do you want me to call 911?"

A few seconds passed, and his eyes, which were half-open and slightly tilted to one side, focused on her face. "No thank you," he replied.

Then came the obvious question from Rin's end: "Why were you at the bottom of a river?"

The boy's eyes went in and out of focus. He sat up, forcing Rin to back off, and pressed his thin shirt against his face. Rin noticed that it seemed to have lost its color from being underwater; it looked rather small for him as well, and she wondered whether this also was a result of its immersion in the river. His skin, however, merely looked wet and not damaged at all.

She asked again- "Are you all right?"

A few seconds passed before he, while gazing into the distance, answered, "Yes."

For lack of any other ideas, she took his shoulder and turned him around to face her. "I'm Rin."

"Haru," he said; Rin assumed this was his name and did not pursue the subject.

He laid back down on the bank; Rin stood up and hoisted him to his feet, pulling his arm around her shoulders to support his weight. Without speaking, she began to drag Haru out of the woods.

Eheh. Yes… that was boring. But that's okay, because the next chapter is more interesting, and the one after that is even more interesting, and so on. It's very interesting. Yes… interesting. Hah. Well… I will update, if I get one comment that is not a flame. Okay? Okay. Yuss. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, I asked for one nice review, and I got one. Eheh. One. So, here's the deal: I will post the last chapter of this story if I get two good reviews on this chapter. Enjoy, I guess. Here is Hollow Body, chapter 2.

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Rin had picked up the phone a few times to call for help but heard nothing on the other end, so she settled for placing Haru as gently as possible on the wood floor in her kitchen. He had shown little signs of life since he had been brought inside, but he was clearly alive; she could see his chest rising and falling as he breathed.

Finally she climbed the stairs and moved briskly into her room, throwing open drawers in an attempt to find something androgynous. Settling for a dark brown hooded sweatshirt and fairly loose jeans, she hurried back down the stairs and pulled Haru up from under the arms; he steadied himself with his feet, and was able to walk towards the downstairs shower with Rin's guidance.

Rin turned on a stream of warm water from the tap and helped Haru to get inside the shower; he slumped to the floor again, but as the water hit him, he seemed to regain some of his consciousness and began to undress himself. She left the clothes outside the shower and left the washroom, leaving the door open in case he fell or fainted.

After a moment, Rin lost more of her composure; she leaned against the wall outside the washroom and slid down to the floor, grabbing both sides of her head with thin-fingered hands. She didn't know what to think about this person- whether to fear him or feel sorry for him. To make matters worse, she couldn't help being attracted to him.

Suddenly, a bizarre thought entered her head- she didn't know if he was truly alive. It could have just been her obsession with everything abnormal, but he had exhibited behavior typical to living, dead, and inanimate entities.

Her attention returned to the sound of hissing water in the shower. She stood up and wandered into the washroom; Haru was slumped over against the shower's wall; it vaguely looked as if he was crying. Rin shut off the water and gave him a towel; she was rather frustrated to see that he did nothing with it, so she pulled him forward and attempted to dry his hair.

She then realized that Haru **was** crying; he raised his head up from under his towel and collapsed on her. She couldn't tell whether he was weak or trying to hug her; she didn't know what to do, so she remained still. After a minute or so, she said, "I have some clothes for you."

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The next day was a Monday; Rin, who was forced to go to school, left Haru at home in front of the TV in her bedroom. She placed a phone near him and was very clear in instructing him that if something went wrong, to call her cell. She was required to leave the phone shut off while she was in school, but checked it dozens of times that day. Haru didn't leave any messages.

When she stepped out of the school doors, she did so alone; people tended to avoid her in school, for reasons unbeknownst to her. She didn't mind solitude, but occasionally she felt lonely; this was what triggered her enormous smile when she saw that Haru had waited for her outside the school parking lot. Without speaking, she grabbed his hand took a left to the school soccer field. She felt a pang of embarrassment as she realized that, even with her heels, she was barely up to his jawbone.

After a few awkward moments, Rin burst out with "I think you look good in girl jeans." Haru laughed at this sudden declaration and drummed his fingers against the back of her hand.

"I didn't have a good day," Rin said, her voice shaking slightly halfway through the sentence. "I don't know why. But people don't like me." She realized that this was an abrupt change in conversation and that he might not care, but she wanted someone to talk to. "Kyo's girlfriend knocked me down the stairs."

Haru's entire face suddenly became sad. "Why?"

"She doesn't like me," Rin murmured. "Mostly because I've had a crush on Kyo since second grade."

"That's no reason to push you down stairs, you could have been really hurt," Haru protested. "You are okay, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But I can't prove it was her." She stopped as she reached the middle of the field and lay down in the grass, looking up at the clear blue sky. Haru laid down near her, his head against hers. Rin saw a cloud go by and, inexplicably, began to cry. She tried to muffle the sound; Haru asked her if she was okay.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she repeated. "I know I can't do anything, but part of me wants to get back at her. I know it's an awful thing to want, but I just wish she could feel what she's done to me all my life."

Rin sat up and dabbed her face. "Look, there she is now." She looked casually the other way, knowing that Kyo's girlfriend would say something mean if she caught Rin staring at her. "Haru, don't you think-- Haru?"

Haru had a pin between his thumb and forefinger; with the other hand, he held open his eyelid.

Rin realized what he was going to do; her mouth opened involuntarily and she drew a sharp breath. "Haru, stop it! What are you doing?!"

Haru gave her a glance, then pressed the tip of the needle into his eye next to his iris. He paused, then pushed the pin an inch into his eye. Rin screamed shrilly, tears forming in her eyes. "Stop it!! Stop it!!"

At that same time, Rin heard another scream; her head turned around involuntarily and she just caught a glimpse of the girl she hated be hit by a passing car. Her body flew like a ragdoll into the air and landed at the side of the road; the car sped off.

A few moments of silence passed, and then Rin turned to look at Haru, an expression of horror on her face. Haru stared dismally back, half an inch of needle sticking out of his right eye.

"What are you?"

Haru leaned back on his elbows and looked at the sky. "I dunno." He casually slid the pin out of his eye.

Rin was crying freely. "How can you **do** something like that??"

"It's an ability I've acquired," he replied, nonchalant.

She whispered, "You're not really alive, are you."

He ran his hand through his hair; it seemed longer than before. "No."

"Then what are you?" she repeated, growing angry.

He paused. "An entity. I used to be like you."

"You're a ghost."

"No, that word is stupid," Haru objected. "But I did die, a while ago."

She sniffed. "Is that what that scar is from?"

He looked down. "Yes, it is. I was killed by a scizophrenic girl."

Blank stares. "What? How?"

"Well, humans don't need a motive. They just need to be broken... apparrently this one thought I needed to die, so she sliced my throat with a machete."

For a moment, Rin desperately wished she was dreaming. Her senses told her otherwise, and she tried to stand up, but Haru grabbed her hand and asked, "Where are you going?"

She gasped in air, half in a manifestation of fright and half to scream "Don't touch me!" She refrained from the latter; the tiny hairs on the back of her neck bristled. Haru's fixed glare became too much for her to bare; Rin looked away, gritting her teeth.

He tilted his head slightly, letting his eyes go in and out of focus once without blinking. Rin let herself sink down just a little to his level; without realizing what was happening, Rin found that she was kissing him. It was nice, but it was cooler in temperature than any kiss she had experienced before.

Rin flinched when something sharp hit her forehead; it was cold rain. Without Rin noticing, the sky had become completely overcast. Haru drew back and looked up into the sky; a huge smile lit his face.

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Yay! I love this so far. Yes... Kyo's girlfriend pushed Rin down the stairs... actually, pushing people down the stairs sounds like something Rin would do. Regardless, it goes without saying that obviously Kyo's girlfriend in this story is not Tohru. XD Let's say it's Kagura, ne? Alright. I want reviews! Tell me what you think of this story. AlexandraKyoko, I love you. 3


	3. Chapter 3

This is the end of the story... hehehe. It's fun-filled.

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Haru and Rin enjoyed conversations in the shower stall from then on. One such conversation took place four days after the incident with the pin.

Rin felt she had been talking too much, but whenever she stopped, Haru would look at her eagerly, and she would feel comitted to continue; finally, she halted, catching her breath. Haru blinked at her. Then he said,

"You should kill Kyo."

Rin stared for a moment, not understanding what he was saying. "...What?"

"He's ruining you. You have to kill him."

"What? Why?? He's done nothing wrong!"

Haru persisted. "You really should kill him."

"But-" Rin protested, "that would land me in jail!"

"No, it wouldn't. You would get away." Haru's hair was heavy from the humidity in the shower- he pushed it out of his face.

Rin stood up suddenly; Haru looked at her.

"Kill him," he instructed, and he did so with such an alarming tone that Rin tripped over the shower threshold and fell, catching herself on the sink. Haru stood and moved towards her, producing a long sliver needle and pressing it to the large blue vein in his left wrist. In the split second while it happened, Rin realized that he was going to force her to do what he wanted.

Rin suddenly felt as if there was something inside of her skull. She pawed frantically at the sides of her head, her mouth opening and closing involuntarily, and she fell onto the floor. The feeling intensified until she let out a shrill scream, followed by another one; she fumbled for her doorknob, but finding her hands to lack versatility, she pounded several times on the wood before curling into a ball and gasping. Her vision became black as her eyes rolled back in her head. Her mouth continued to open and close on its own. She began to thrash about on the oak floor.

The feeling subsided. Rin clutched her head in her hands and huddled over; Haru, who had apparrently removed the pin from his wrist, stood over her. He opened his mouth to say something; Rin did not give him the chance.

She lashed out with her arm and wrapped her fingers around his ankle; she gave a tremendous heave and, much to her surprise, Haru collapsed quite easily onto the floor beside her. She bent over him, punched him hard in the mouth, and threw the door open.

She didn't have to turn around to know that Haru was standing up. Rin kicked off her heels and tore through the house, her bare feet pounding on the old floors. She reached the kitchen and, on an impulse, siezed a huge butcher knife from the carving block. Haru entered the room-- Rin cried out, "Stay away!"

Haru massaged his jaw. Rin realized he was not going to stay away; she launched herself into the entry hall, slipping and almost falling on a throw rug, and bolted to the door. She slammed herself against it and with one hand wrenched the knob-- Haru had locked it. She muttered an explitive and whirled around-- there was Haru, no more than ten feet from her. She spun her head around frantically, and after settling on a huge bay window, she launched herself at it and shattered the glass with her heel.

At this point she doubted Haru would follow her; she jumped through the window, taking no notice to the hedge beneath, and began to sprint out into the street in front of her yard. "Shit," she hissed as she noticed a large wedge of glass caught in the side of her foot. No sooner did she slow down did Haru grab her shoulder and spin her around; in terror, Rin began to cry. The one thing she could remember from her defense class was to scream, "No!!"

She wrenched free of his grasp and, in desperation, made a fierce overhand slash at the air where she presumed Haru was standing. A warm liquid splashed her face; she rubbed her fist across her eyes and growled in exasperation when a large streak of black mascara marked her hand.

Suddenly if felt as if Rin had been wearing earmuffs, and they had been lifted. Then the world crashed down on her as she realized that Kyo was lying facedown on the sidewalk, a tremendous gash under his jaw. The pavement beneath him was swiftly turning a beautiful shade of red.

_That was Haru just a second ago._

She looked at the sky. The cut in Kyo's neck looked like a gill to Rin.

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eheheheh. There are two ways to interpret the ending of this story: Haru was a ghost and he tricked Rin into killing Kyo, or Haru never existed and Rin just imagined the whole thing. If you review this story, I will read a Furuba fanfic that you wrote. I reeally want people to read this, I worked hard on it, and I like it. Alexandra Kyoko 3 write more stuff.


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